Where Blog Posts Come From

“OH! That would make a fantastic blog post.”

This is what I say to myself daily, but frequently I don’t sit down and take the time to write. Work obligations and family time and—of course—laundry, are inevitable obstacles and the idea quickly fades away.

But the buck stops here (at least for the month of April). Writing a new blog post every day is a challenge for me. We are talking 30 posts in 30 days. They call it the ULTIMATE BLOG CHALLENGE (UBC for short). That’s a lot of pressure. I’ve done this challenge before and the farthest I’ve accomplished is 18 posts straight through. That’s more than halfway through, but this time I’m planning on reaching day 30.

Honestly, it shouldn’t be THAT hard. After all, it isn’t hard for me to come up with something to write about every day. Inspiration can come from the latest news cycle or a trip to the local supermarket. I never know when or where lightning will strike so notebooks are appropriately stationed in the car, on my nightstand and in my purse to capture whatever comes my way.

It’s a good thing I’m a morning person because I find that is the best time for me to write. Ideally, I’ll have a post published for you to read by the time you check your Facebook page in the morning (like today). But, no guarantees. ?

There is so much to write about these days. For instance, I’m obsessed with the college admissions scandal in which 50 people including 2 famous actors bought their child’s way into highly-regarded universities. Not only did these parents have the means to get their children all the tutoring and coaching they needed to get accepted on their own, but they also took a spot away from a more deserving, hard-working and honest student.

As the mom of a soon-to-be college freshman, I understand this process is grueling. It can be incredibly stressful and full of fear and judgement. It is the ultimate test to our self-esteem as parents and students. But in the end, my daughter is going to a wonderful school and she worked hard to get there—and I’m incredibly proud of her for that. And I’m furious that Aunt Becky didn’t have the same faith in her own kids. And I’m sad for the kids that didn’t know their spot at the school their attending was bought. And yes, I believe there are some who didn’t know. What does that say about our faith in our children to create their own success stories?

Did I mention my daughter is going to college in the fall? Yep, our first child is spreading her wings and leaving the nest. Soon to be followed by her brother who I plan to be present for over the next few years of his high school career. I will probably drive him crazy.

Through my little blog in cyberspace, I’ve created a space to share my views like these (and much more), bring a little slice of life and hopefully a smile as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts too. Has what I’m writing about happened to you or is it just me? Do you have a different opinion or experience? I want to hear that too. I love to learn from the other side when it is done in a respectful way. So please, leave me comments on my posts. Notes of encouragement are welcome as well. Writing is my passion and I’m looking forward to sharing it all with you.

Above all, let’s have some fun.
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21st Century Jury Duty – A Guest Post

Why everyone cringes when they get a summons for jury duty by Jackie Diamond
You get the summons in the mail and immediately you’re like, “oh sh*t”. You’re not alone. The majority of us cringe at the prospect of serving on jury duty. Now some of you are going to tell me that it’s our civic duty to serve on a jury of our peers. Fundamentally I agree. Except for the fact that the entire process is completely antiquated. And it places a burden on everyday modern life. The system is built on old, archaic platform from a time where mobile communication didn’t exist. And at times, it can feel demoralizing. Being stuck in a room, sometimes with little or no information or what to expect, and even worse, being cut off from the outside world. Having recently experienced this process, here are a few proposed enhancements to bring jury duty into the 21st century.
Enhancement 1: Scrub the juror database It makes sense for some people to be immediately eliminated from the jury pool. Are you a lawyer? A cop? Or work in the court system? Then you probably have a bias and even know the prosecutors and/or defense attorneys on the case. Therefore why would the court waste their time to ask you to serve in the first place? Believe it or not, there are plenty of people of people in these professions who are provided with a summons and asked to serve.
Enhancement 2: Online pre-screen Think of when you apply for a job. You are pre-screened with an online application. Why don’t we do this for potential jurors? It helps even further weed out people with certain “possible” inherent biases. Why does this process need to be conducted in person? Docusign is a much-respected and recognized way to legally sign a document. If you pre-screen potential jurors before they even have to take off of work and travel to the courthouse, you create efficiencies and save everyone a lot of angst and stress.
Enhancement 3: Schedule juror interviews What if jury selection panels could schedule interviews with potential jurors, based on their pre-screen (see Enhancement 2). Wouldn’t that make a better use of everyone’s time? And jurors wouldn’t have to worry about wasting an entire day sitting around being completely unproductive. Will any of this ever really come to fruition? Not sure. But it’s nice to contemplate when you’re wasting away in a jury room waiting to find out if you’ve been selected.

 

 

I Blinked

We live 3 blocks from our elementary school and I would often walk Jenna up to “the path” which leads to the back of the school. On one cold and rainy day, Jenna hopped in the car and I drove her instead. While waiting at the stop sign to make the turn onto the main road, I started to do the math.I thought to myself…right now she is in Kindergarten and she will graduate high school in 2019 and I’ll be…48 years old. It seemed like such a long time away so I just shrugged it off and took her to school. Now, she drives herself to school. She turns 18 tomorrow and she graduates high school in 5 months. Guess what, I blinked.

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